Safety attachment for gas-engine cranks.



M. J. REILLY.

SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR GAS ENGINE CRANKS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.19,1918.

Patented Au 20,1915;

WITNESSES A TTOR/VEVS I ne'rrnnwm IREiLLYjOF' new storm, on. Y nssxenon or ONE-HALF ro moms a] ApplicationfiledMa rch 19; 1e18, seriainaazaaee. a e J v i i To all wltomtit may concern: I and at the right side oftheicrank shafts Beiitikno'wn that vI, MA'rrHEW i t i EARLY, or wnsr NEW BRIGHTON, new YORK.

v a citizen of theU'nited States, and .aresi- I qdentf of; the" city of New York,fWes t New Brighton; borough of Richmond, in the countyof-Richmond and State'lof New York, v

have. invented a neti andlImproved Safety 1 iAttachment for Gas-Engine; Cranks of act description.

a -nwhich'thefollowing-isafnlh clear; andex- 1 bThis invention relates to eranklng devices 7 flfo'r automobiles;- or other internal combus j jtjioir engines and Lhasgparticular reference tomeans to prevent injuryy to the operator "at the "time of the cranking operation, due

to prematureignitionor. baci i-firing, of the applied to existing engines Without material alteration of'the structure of such engines. gWith the view the invention consists in the arrangement and lcomblnation of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and" while the in 'vention'is not restricted to the exact details ofconstructionldisclosed or suggested here-' in, 1 till for, the, purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is hadto ,theflaccompanying drawings, in

3 Which like referencecharacters designate the same parts in the several views, and

,. Figure i s tenants Orr-ale principal partsof myimprovement, a part of th bracket being horizontalpsection; I i i Fig. 2 is a ;vertical" transverse section on lat line 2+2 of' ig: h

Fig. 3flis a vertical longitudinal section on theiine 3 3 of Fig. 1;

' Referring now more particularly to the lfidrawin'g's I show at l'Oafragment of the throngh a clutch 14:, when; the crank isv front end of, an ,antomobile, 11 being the usual crank having ashaft 12 adapted for,

cooperation withthejyshafit. extension, 71-3 shoved rearward, against the force of a a clockwise direction. t The above features being conventional I spring 15 and rotated toward the right or in bracket 16 adapted-tobe 'fixedin any suit able mannerto the front part of the engine forgoing and. other objects in 12 and 13.

j e f i ca srAT- PATENT orrioE;

i s meifioation of Letters Patent; Aug;

17 indicates a short spindle jonrnaledjin j the left side-of the bracket 16 parallel to the crank shaft and carrying the compound gear member comprising a ratchetfvvhee1 18 and a long toothed pinion. 19. The pi'nioni 19 has constant meshing engagement with'a'; toothed gear 20 fixed to the crank shaft-12,

the teethjof the pinion 1.9 are made much.

longer thanthosefof the gear so as 'to ac-i commodate the gear to its forward and rear-f Ward shifting movements incident to the y shifting of the crank shaft 12 intorand out j of mesh with the auxiliary shaft 13.

The ratchet wheellsand connected pinion 19 are adapted torotateffreely toward the left as a result of the rotation of the r gear-20 toward the right so that thereisno 1 interference to the intended or proper 1-0-;

tation of the crank, occasioned by the Wheel. a 21 and 22 indicate a pair of cooperate in succession Withtlre te tlijbf the ratchet Wheel.

I pawlsfone longer than the other, and both adapted to", a

In saying that one pawl r is longer than the other'l wishitonbejunderstood as meaning that the effective length;

is greater than that of'the other so that the I ends or points of the pawls are relatively" offset so that but one Will be operative at any one time. The offset between theends ratchet tooth. By this con'struction, there fore, I am able to make a ratchet wheel of I of the teeth approximately is equalytofone i [half of the" circumferential length of each j a Q pivot the two pawis approximately"Icoaxial'l of each other on P i f h a s' and 7 24yt118, pivotsb'emg indicat d at i. violsly, w ve t p v ts might be ofi's et y 7 H 10.0. I .samelength andyethave the gam a advantage their Po as above sea relatively so that the pawls might beef" the forth. v

These crossheads as shovvn best being slidable along a pair of guide rails 26 3 are preferablyof the same charactereach and a central guiderail 27; The-guide rails t 26 constitute beads or'fia'nge's'formed'aiong the front and rear bars of the bracket 16 while the harQ? extendssubstantially-T way Eachcrosshea'd is held normally abutting between 'thosei two bars or rails.

- squarely against the vertical portions of the bracket by virtue of a strong buffer or with the ratchet wheel by means of a light leafspring '31.

cushioning q adapted to slide through the right hand end 30-of the bracket.

spring 28 surrounding a stem -Each pawl is held down in engagement- The (operation of my improvement may be briefly summarized as follows: To crank the engine the operator grasps the crank 11 I I and after shoving it rearward asiusual to connect the two crank shaft elements 12 and 1-3 will turn the crank in the usual manner, During this rotation of the crank rection,

' ing freely under of back-fire of Y "squently is operator, the pawls are in position to insure stopping f that at least one of them will be engaged by the undercut face of a ratchet tooth, so the undesired reverse rotation of the crank shaft by means of the constant intermeshing engagement-of the pinion 19 clutcij teethmay be engaged,

ks, the combination with a crank and a gear fixed thereto for rotation in the same direction, of a pinion having constant 56 meshing engagement with 2 the gear, a

ratchet wheel fixed to th pinion I, h r

adapted to rotate therewith" around I the same axis, and a. pair of pawls of different lengths porating in succession with the 60 teeth ofthe ratchet wheel.

3. The combination wit and slidablecoaxial shaft members having clutch teeth, means to normally hold the i clutch teeth "separated and the crank 'atg i 'tached to one of said members whereby the p of a safety attachment comprising a gear gear, a fixed bracket in which the pinion is a ratchet wheel fixed to the pinionand adapted to rotate around the same axis, a

crosshead mounted in the bracket for, slidable movement toward and from the ratchet 1 wheel, a strong spring acting upon the 'crosshead to hold it normally, adjacent to' the ratchet wheel, and a pawl pivoted upon the crosshead and cooperating. .with theseteeth of the ratchet wheel, substantially as set forth.

4. The herein ment to prevent the reverse rotation ofan h relatively fixed I fixedto the slidable shaft member, a long pinion having constant meshingr engagement with the7 ournaled for rotation around a fixed axis,

described safety; attach and; the gear 20. -The mounting of the pawls on the resiliently-mounted crossheads s5 is'primarily for the purpose of cushioning a the rearward impact, but the springs 28 are engine crank shaft, said attachment com- 5 prising a rigid bracket, a ratchet wheel journaled in the bracket on an axis parallel i I to the crank shaft, front and rear bars hav fczilculated to be strong enough'to prevent sufficient reciprocation of thepawls to the l attachment comprising a their purpose.

v extent of permitting the pawls .to fail'in.

,I claiin:

' 1. The combination'witih an engine crank adaptedto rotate in o'ne direction, of a safety attachment to p tieyent the rotation of the crank in the opp8sitefdirection, said toothed gear fixed ,l to the crank shaftJaitpinion meshing coning guide rails perpendicular to the axis of the ratchet wheel, a central guide fl midway between the aforesaid rails, a 5 1 of crossheadsp-slidably mounted upon the respective side 'r'af ls and central rail, strong cushioning means between; the "crossheads.

and the remote 'portion of ,t e bracketteffds 1 ing to resist such sliding I 'vement,flonger and shorter pawls pivoted upon th'e crossa heads and cooperating in succession with the teeth of the ratchet wheel, and positive gear COIIDBCtlOIlS between the crankshaft indilthe ratchet wheel, substantiallyas setl ort 7 l ,stantly'with thegear; "and pawl and ratchet p devices cooperating with the pinion to pre- 50 vent the same from undesired reverse roi' tationu v 2.111 a safety attachment for engine MATTHEW}; REILLY.

. Oopiel o! tliil patent may be obtained for live cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Iaten-ts,

v. I w mumo nc." 

